


I Don't Know, Strap It to Your Back

by Mischel



Series: Merlin Rewatch 2020 [15]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Banter, Episode: s02e02 The Once and Future Queen, Gen, Humor, Idiots, M/M, Merlin is So Done (Merlin), Merlin is a Little Shit, POV Merlin (Merlin), Pre-Slash, Prince Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Sharing a Bed, Tired Arthur, tired Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischel/pseuds/Mischel
Summary: "Fetch the mattress from my quarters and bring it up here," Arthur commanded.Merlin doubted that that was even possible. "How am I supposed to carry a mattress on my own?""I don't know, strap it to your back." But what was he supposed to do when Arthur gave the order?This is a fic about how Merlin actuallydidmanage to carry the mattress all the way from Arthur's chambers to Gwen's house on his own, although at a great cost. (He wasexhaustedafterwards.) Although, maybe when he's so tired, Arthur will allow him to stay at Gwen's and share the mattress? (Itwasrather enormous for just one person, wasn't it?)Set in the episode 2x02 The Once and Future Queen.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merlin Rewatch 2020 [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670389
Comments: 25
Kudos: 271





	I Don't Know, Strap It to Your Back

**Author's Note:**

> I had such a hard time coming up with ideas for this episode and then like two hours ago I was like "f*ck it, I'm writing about the damn mattress." So, enjoy! :D

Most people would be asleep when it was already dark outside (Gaius certainly was), but here _Merlin_ was, stripping the prince's bed in his chambers and desperately trying to figure out how _exactly_ he was supposed to carry the mattress over to Gwen's house because god forbid if the prince had to sleep on _sacks_ for one night. Which, one might argue, might actually be better than the forest floor in winter, but when Arthur wanted _comfort_ , Merlin _had_ to oblige, didn't he . . .

He groaned in frustration as he lifted the mattress above the bed with his magic (after making sure he was alone, of course), and made it stand on its own in front of him.

God, that thing was taller than him.

How would he even carry it?

Well, he couldn't use magic, that one was obvious. It might have been dark outside, but there were patrols all over the town . . . and he'd have to avoid those too since no one was supposed to know that Arthur was still in Camelot.

What explanation would he give the guards for seemingly stealing the prince's mattress and dragging it through the streets?

Because that was what he'd have to do, wasn't it? He'd have to _drag_ it all the way there and then somehow pray that no one would see him use magic to clean the mattress.

At this point, he didn't even really care to be perfectly honest, he just wanted to _sleep._ For the past two days (and since he arrived in Camelot, _really_ ) he'd been running around after Arthur (do _this_ , Merlin, do _that,_ Merlin), and when he was not running around after Arthur, he was doing chores for Gaius, all while trying to fulfil his destiny and somehow keep his magic hidden and not get executed in the process.

That was too much for one man to handle.

With a huff, he turned his back to the mattress and let go of his magic. The mattress started falling— _away_ from him, _god_ dammit! His eyes changed colour one more time and finally, he managed to position the mattress on his back.

He reached behind with his arms and tried to grab it, essentially wrapping the mattress around himself to keep it secure. If it fell to the ground _once_ , he wouldn't bother trying to lift it up again.

It took him more time than he'd like to admit to sneak out of the prince's chambers, avoid the guards (three times, _three_ bloody times!), and to finally find himself on his way to Gwen's house. And he was right. He _did_ end up dragging the mattress behind him. If the guards spotted him then, at least his silhouette would look more or less normal instead of a _bumpy walking table in the dark_ that he was sure he looked like up until now.

Another few huffs and hushed curses, and he was standing in front of Gwen's door. He knew she'd be already sleeping, so he looked around, very quietly used magic to open the door, and when he could see that Gwen was turned away from him on the bed and Arthur was hidden somewhere behind the curtain (probably sulking, sitting on the sacks) he used magic again to clean the mattress. Then he awkwardly grabbed it and put it on his back (well, _almost_ ), and softly knocked on the wooden wall to announce his arrival.

" _Merlin_." He heard Arthur hiss at him from the dark. The prince moved the curtains and his angry face appeared in the doorway, glaring at Merlin. "What took you so long?"

What— _what_ took him so long? Was he being serious? "Well, you might not believe it, _sire_ , but your mattress _is_ kind of heavy when you have to carry it all the way here."

"In that case, you should exercise more," Arthur replied, a smirk on his face. If Arthur wasn't a prince, Merlin would smack him.

Instead, he took a deep breath and turned around on the spot, walking backwards into Arthur with the mattress still on his back, pushing it into the prince. "Wait, _Merlin_ _—_ " It didn't take long and Merlin heard Arthur fall on the ground, just as the mattress slid off his back and crushed the prince under its weight.

"Oh, sorry." He chuckled.

When Arthur freed himself from underneath the mattress, he immediately grabbed Merlin's hand. "You'll be sorry _yet_ ," he said before pulling Merlin down, making him fall on the mattress, the sacks and himself. As a result, Merlin ended up with his face in Arthur's chest.

That was . . . _not_ what Merlin had planned.

"Not fair," he mumbled into Arthur's tunic (okay, yeah, _now_ he knew what smell Arthur had been complaining about earlier, but then again, it could also _just_ be Arthur after the tournament).

Arthur smacked him on the head lightly and growled, " _yes,_ fair." Then he let Merlin go and struggled up to his feet, looking down at the huge royal mattress in the middle of Gwen's little room filled with sacks.

Merlin had also wondered how Arthur even intended for this to work, but the exhaustion he'd felt earlier had returned and clouded his brain. Suddenly, he couldn't even keep his eyes open.

Not that Arthur _cared._

"Alright, I'll move the sacks, you arrange the mattress on the ground," he commanded in a hushed voice.

" _Where_ exactly do you want to move the sacks? Or the mattress, for that matter? There's no space."

Arthur patted him on the back. "You'll figure something out."

Merlin groaned, not so loudly to wake up Gwen but just enough to let Arthur know how utterly _done_ he was with him right now. He moved the mattress up and away, pressing it against the wall.

Arthur reached for one of the sacks and _moved_ _—_ wait, no. Merlin blinked. Arthur _moved_ _—_ and then didn't. Merlin narrowed his eyes. Was he already dreaming or was the sack too heavy for Arthur?

He snickered. "Now who's the one who needs to exercise."

"Shut up, Merlin."

Merlin couldn't fight the grin that formed on his face. But when it was obvious that Arthur was struggling (how did _Gwen_ get the sacks in here? Or did she fill them up gradually?), he pushed his bum into the mattress, keeping it in place against the wall, and then used his feet to push the sack in the direction Arthur was _moving_ it to help him.

Arthur didn't spare him a glance, but at least the sack _did_ move this time. And then so did the next one, and the third, and after another five minutes, they'd managed to move all the sacks and line them up against the wall.

Now they were both panting with exertion.

"Now—" a gulp, "now bring the m-mattress," Arthur told him, weakly motioning over to where Merlin was holding the mattress against the wall.

Merlin took a deep breath and slid down to the floor, letting the mattress bend and fall over his shoulders, coincidentally hitting Arthur in the head.

" _What_ are you doing this time, you _idiot_?"

Merlin shrugged, although Arthur couldn't see it. "Letting the exhaustion take me. I'm too tired to move."

He could hear Arthur groan in frustration. "If you'd just . . . just," Arthur groaned again. "Just move away and let the mattress fall down. You're not the only one who's _tired_ , Merlin."

Merlin rolled his eyes. He didn't stand up, but he did start moving along the wall to get from under the mattress. Eventually, when he made it far enough, the mattress fell down on the ground and spread itself over both the sacks and a part of the wall.

Merlin knew it'd be too big for the little room.

"Now help me move it."

Merlin glared up at Arthur. "I've carried it all the way here, why can't _you_ _—_ "

" _Mer_ lin—"

Merlin let his eyelids drop for just a second and then opened them again, trying to make his body believe he had the energy. He reached out his hand to Arthur, who hesitantly took it and helped him get up.

Merlin wished more than anything that he could use magic right now, but even with how tired (=blind?) Arthur was right now, he couldn't risk it. He looked at the mattress—it was askew—and slowly kicked it.

"What— _Mer_ lin, I said—"

"I know! I know," Merlin hissed at him in the dark. "But _you're_ helping me."

To Merlin's surprise, Arthur didn't protest this time. They both grabbed one end of the mattress and moved it closer to themselves to align it with the room, and then pushed it back again to press it against the far wall, where Arthur (and Merlin too, because _come on_ ) would put his head in preferably the next twenty seconds.

Once the mattress was finally in place, it was still too wide for the room. One end was rising up and pressing against the wall, the opposite half of the mattress was also rising up and pressing against the sacks, creating a sort of _mattress-bowl_ across the entire room.

Merlin thought it looked kind of neat.

Also, he did _not_ have the energy to try to move it again, and it wouldn't help anyway, the mattress was just too big for the room and there was no changing it.

Alright, so if there was no changing it—

Merlin dropped down to his knees and let his body fall on the mattress.

"Merlin," Arthur whispered. "This is the part where you go back home to sleep _there_."

Merlin had already closed his eyes. "No, this is the part where you let me sleep here with you because it's already past midnight and we're both exhausted. If I tried going back, I'd just pass out on the street."

"That wouldn't be a problem."

Merlin cracked his eye open simply to glare at Arthur for that comment. Then he shifted his weight a little to get more comfortable and closed his eyes again. "I'm staying."

Arthur seemed to have given up. After a moment, Merlin felt Arthur's body press against his on the mattress, the shape of the mattress in the room making it so that they couldn't really move much away from each other. (And Merlin was more than _fine_ with that.) A thin blanket spread over both of them, covering Merlin's face. Merlin pushed it down with his hand and a small smile formed on his lips.

"If you tell anyone about this, you're a dead man, Merlin," Arthur whispered into his ear.

Merlin managed a slow nod. "Of course, sire."

"And I want you to know that I'm only allowing this because I'm tired and I don't want to deal with you complaining."

Merlin's smile turned into a slight smirk. "Understood."

"Now shut up and . . . and . . . good night."

Merlin moved a tiny bit closer to his prince (and if Arthur noticed, he didn't say anything to stop it), and sighed happily. Arthur was a prat, yes, but Merlin couldn't help but live for the tiny moments like this when they were alone and everything was warm and soft and beautiful. (They didn't happen often, mind you, but every time they did, Arthur seemed a little more okay with it.)

And right now, he was more than happy to just close his eyes and let Arthur's breathing lull him to sleep.

"Good night, Arthur."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for reading! :D


End file.
